Emissions! I can’t contain myself with excitement for this all-around extraordinary festival. The vibes that you feel while at any Camp ? and/or Irie Cartel event are unparalleled. These guys are on the forefront of West Coast Bass Culture and they’re passionate about making it happen, and making it happen right! The crew welcomes any and all creative exploration, collaboration, participation, synchronization. So it’s no wonder that their gatherings are all-sensory interactive experiences.

My first Emissions was in 2011 in beautiful Tuolumne, CA… we came, we partied and howled at the moon, we got snowed out, and we conquered that shit. It was actually magnificent feeling the forces of nature make themselves known to us; it went from pleasantly sizzling hot to torrential blizzard in a matter of two days. But the point is, we came together under the snowfall and continued to have a blast! Not many groups of people can collectively do that. Then last year, Emissions was held in the sweeping valleys and timber-laden forest of Angels Camp. It was magical! There was a sense of pure bliss and beauty in the air that you couldn’t resist noticing and soaking in. This year, I can’t tell you how I’m excited that the gathering will be held in my all-time favorite venue of Belden Town, which is nestled in the stunning Feather River Canyon in the Sierra Nevadas. We’ll soon be shaking our booties in the sun, some floating in the refreshing water, some swaying in hammocks…. Perfection!

Let’s get to the music. DJ Shadow, at a festival?! Double yes. I can’t wait to see his All Basses Covered DJ Set; I feel that it will be completely different than when I last saw him in his awe-inspiring Shadowsphere. The Polish Ambassador always brightens my day with his retro sound that at times is reminiscent of old-school video game sounds. Lately he’s been exploring some lusher, earthy sounds that I love with Ecozoic. And there’s really no denying that he is the funkiest of diplomats with his bright onzies! We’ve got Ill.Gates, guaranteed to blow your mind with heavy bass frequencies. Minnesota will always be one of my favorites, I can never get enough of his textured tunes and his live performances are top-notch! I can’t wait to get weird in the paint with NastyNasty, his sets are always exciting and playful. G Jones has been killing it lately and I can’t wait to see what he brings to the table at Emissions. I am always brought to another dimension, one of elation, while experiencing Phutureprimitive live, so I am thrilled about his appearance on the bill. Other acts that I’m absolutely stoked on are M!NT (CO homie), Guttstar, Trevor Kelly (got the chance to kick it with him last weekend during Bicycle Day and had a great time and loved his sets), Bedrockk (also CO homies), Psymbionic, MiHKAL, Hypha, Zapper & Datgirl, Smasheltooth, Foobz (also had the pleasure of chilling with him last weekend), Zebuel (friend and pioneer of the Tahoe bass scene here), Boggan (awesome friend from Reno), and Benito.

So what are you waiting for, grab your ticket and come join us in the woods for Emissions! It is an insanely reasonable gathering and you will return home a new person. Time to feel the music. Get your Emissions tickets here! See you there

No words can describe how excited I am to awaken my dreams once again at the open-source experience that is Lucidity Festival on April 12-14 at Live Oak Campground. We will all be together again soon… dancing, howling and frolicking below those sparkle-laden timbers in the stunning Santa Barbara hills. Last year was incredible. Colorful, mischievous, beautiful, raw, and resilient are all words that come to mind when I reminisce on the transformational festival. Together us participants weathered and savored the torrential storm and together we welcomed the following rainbows and glistening sunlight with open arms and hearts. Magic. I feel like the morphing weather patterns brought everyone together, helping establish a heightened sense of community. I believe that everyone left that festival a changed being in one way or another. I guarantee that this year’s Return of the Totem will be just as, if not more life-changing. Open your senses to all of the possibilities!

There is something for everyone at Lucidity, whether you want to activate your booty shakin’ skills at one of the sound stages, gaze in awe at amazing art creations scattered about the grounds, test your agility on one of the many awesome structures, delight in an organic smoothie, learn about the Human Energy Field, or simply wander aimlessly. The opportunities for both self reflecting and connecting with other souls are infinite!

The musical talent brought to the totem (get it, haha) is unparalleled. Zion I have been one of my favorite hip hop groups since I started getting into it in high school and I love their live performances. Phutureprimitive will take the crowd on mind-bending soundscapes. Ill.Gates will get everyone moving with his hard basslines and varied upbeat resonance. He’s My Brother She’s My Sister will tingle our senses with their eclectic blend of sounds. Gladkill will awe us all with his beautiful melodic lovestep. I may be the most excited for Bluetech with his gorgeous instrumental downtempo vibes. I have been listening to him a lot lately and liking what I hear more and more. Kaminanda will tingle our senses with his global fusion of beats. Ill-Esha will sooth our souls with her combination of vocal and digital talents. Nico Luminous will kill it with his unique “Glitch-a-delic Soul Whomp”. The list goes on and on!

Then there’s the art. I could never get bored with Bamboo DNA’s large scale organic installations… their Bamboo Stage at LIB always impresses! The Alchemy Arts Collective brought some of my favorite interactive playgrounds to Symbiosis last year so I am enthralled to see what they will bring for our eyes to feast on and bodies to climb at Lucidity! I am intrigued by the solar-powered Autonomous Video Hut which brings “elements of architecture, sculpture, cinema, and video-art to audiences”… sounds sublime. The Space Palette looks to be way too much fun to experiment and discover your inner artist on. The gallery art looks to be phenomenal.

This, my friends, will no doubt be a comprehensive and integrated experience for all beings present. Come play within the oak trees at Live Oak Camp on April 12-14…. Evoke the stoke!

Stephan Jacobs is one of those artist that I’ve been following for quite some time now. I’ve had the pleasure of spending a decent amount of time around the guy now. With all that said I can say that this is one of my favorite releases by him.

He recently just finished up IDfest tour which was a major accomplishment as he joined the likes of Nosia, Doctor P, Nero, Excision, etc… He also joined Pretty Lights on his tour for a few dates. All the hard work he has put in seems to be paying off playing large festivals and hanging with the big boys.

The summer is over and he’s ready to release all the tracks he has been holding on too. I’ll be honest I was a bit concerned about this release not aligning with my current taste due to the exposure and evolution of electronic music getting much large in scale with hardstyle, house, aggro bass, etc… Stephan even told me while playing IDfest on my birthday that in a way you have to make that sort of music to see the large numbers and fan base. It really disappointed me and concerned me but when I got a copy of this album a few weeks ago, it took me by surprise.

This album resembles and sounds a lot like the early Stephan Jacobs I’ve always known. Despite all the hype around heavy aggro hardstyle this album is quite melodic and groovy. You can really get that west coast bass vibe from it.

What’s next for Stephan? Well he’s about to join ill Gates on his massive Church of Bass tour. I don’t want to give too much away but I will have a bit more details about it in a future post for Dylan. I will say that tour is going to be incredible! Stephan also has a Grassroots California hat due out that you should all look into especially if you’ve never checked out GRC before.

Overall I’m really happy to push this release as there’s always that initial concern of am I going to like the new material or not but this album totally is a diverse collection of the quality solo production that we’ve come to love about Stephan Jacobs.

ill Gates was challedged to do a remix of “Aag Da Kariya” by Dr. Zeus for a BBC Asia show. They wanted him to think outside the box and work with Asian music in new creative ways. I Think ill Gates nailed it. Make sure you check out his website, ill Gates.com for free downloads!

I have been noticing a cool thing going on within our community of artists challenging each other in some new creative ways to create music. In this case, a radio show asks ill Gates to think outside the box, but I have also seen some cool communities working together to make some tracks. I love seeing folks get creative and work outside their normal workflow. I think we all benefit from the results. Hopefully in the future, we will get to hear some of these cool collabs. and multiple artist challenges!

Ill Gates has been in is lab for many years working on the epic slammer of a release, The ill. Methodology. The wait is finnally over! On October 3ed, he will drop this dynamic collaboration which is a who’s who of the EDM scene. MUTI Music’s 100th release is destined for greatness with collaborations with Ben Samples, Ana Sia, Mimosa, Datsik, Opiuo, Masia One, Filastine, Dov, D. Schaerf, and more.

He has decided to treat us all to a free download with a track called Open Your Eyes that was co-produced with Captain Hook. They didn’t hold back anything producing this dubstep Gem. It comes out swinging with hard hitting kicks and continues right into a driving bassline. I’m sure we will hear this one killing the dance floor!

My personal favorite track on the album right now, is Thrillogy co-produced with Opiou & Vent. It has that classic Opiou sound we love to get down with, but the Ill Gates influence drives it over the top. Just when you think your feeling its groove, the break drops tempo and pounds the track home. Sure winner!

Emissions 2011

Camp Questions Mark & Irie Cartel present EMISSIONS! It’s not very often I post about events on the site but ohh man this ONE is truly worth covering. Emissions is on it’s 3rd year and wow this years line up is mind blowing. This festival is approximately two hours outside of San Francisco. There will be camping at the beautiful location for all three days.

Now lets get straight to the punch, MUSIC! The line up for this festival is one of the diverse line ups I have seen compared to all the major festivals. Diversity doesn’t mean that there’s only some medium grade level headliners mixed in with some local talent. This truly means that some of the biggest names in all spectrum’s of bass music. It is still taking me back how I will be playing at this event as well. This will be the first time I’ll be in San Francisco and couldn’t have asked to play a better event for my first visit. I think the best part of this festival as well is the unity that will take place at this event. There are so many names on the line up that I’ve worked with directly, have booked myself, communicated on regular online, and/or close friends with already. This past year at SXSW it was a dream to be part of the crew that we were rolling around with and I feel this will be no different. At the end of the day we all are here to share the music but what makes this community so special is how closely networked and friendly everyone is. There so many people on here that are playing that I haven’t met in person and looking forward to finally giving a good amount of people some big hugs. Can’t wait to kick it with all the homies out in Cali!

Now let’s list the two rounds of artist announced. I have bolded some of my recommendations for this. To be fair it’ll probably be quite bias to my personal taste and close friends of mine. Hey I was honest at least right?! Got to support the homies!

Please shoot me a message if you’ll be attending this event! I’m always interested in meeting new people. It’s such a blessing to be able to share the music to you all. I hope you all could make it! Be sure to grab your tickets now! Apparently there might be a limited amount of tickets. The price you’re paying for this line up is an insane deal! Not to mention there are still more artist to be announced! WHAT?! Yeah I know right…

ill Gates aka Dylan has some brand new freshness for us all! Celebrating the soft launch of the new and improved illgates.com he has put out a new mix via Memekast! He has lots of big plans coming up and this is only the beginning. He has been hard at work touring all around the world spreading the music. I can’t think of many others out there who have been creating such a rift with music around the globe.

This mix is filled with such energy and fresh tunes that I’ve listened to it a few times already. This is only a small glimpse into what it is to catch ill Gates live. I had the pleasure of catching him live this past week at SXSW. Dylan is back with some heavy dance music and rocks a crowd like no other. You’ll know when he’s in the room and when he’s behind the mixer.

Without a doubt the highlight of my SXSW experience was staying up till sunrise with Dylan. Ever since I was able to catch his workshop in Seattle at Decibel Festival I’ve told everyone that I’d love to just be friends with ill Gates. He left such a mark on me and had such a sense of control of life that he’s one of those people you just want to be around. It was a honor to talked for a few hours with him. The guy is honestly as real as they come. I’ve met a lot of people in this community and hands down Dylan is one of the most unique and impressive people out there. His dedication and love for this community is unmatched. Hell the guy even has a specific type of diet so he can sleep less and be less cranky on tour. Even if you don’t dig this mix or his sound know that ill Gates encompasses everything you’d want in a person, friend, and musician. There aren’t many that I can say this about.

Look out for his upcoming ill Methodology online workshops coming soon. This is something all you upcoming producers might want to look into. The program is very affordable and can tell you Dylan is one of the best teachers out there. After seeing his workshop in person I can tell you this isn’t just about learning production but learning how to approach anything not just music. You’ll have to catch one of his workshops or online courses to know what I mean.

Nothing but respect and love to Dylan.
I can not say enough positive things about this man.

Your given name really is Ben Samples much to my surprise. Did you think you were destined to make music with such a last name?
Hahah, yeah I get that a lot but I actually think I was just lucky. When I first started making music I didn’t even use the Samples name because I thought it was too obvious, but then friends convinced me it was too good to pass up.

Now that 2010 is coming to a close is there any accomplishments or events in your music career that stick out to you?
Playing Burning Man on some big stages (Nexus, Bass Camp, False Profit, and Portal Patch) was one of the biggest things I did this year. My main goal for 2010 was to get on the festival circuit and in many ways I accomplished that and developed what I like to call a “lot” following by doing free shows at parking lots in festivals and even playing on party busses (Basics Fund out of Boulder CO)

Have any goals or big plans for 2011?
One of my main goals for 2010 was to play at Red Rocks (in Colorado) and I was close to doing one event, but it fell through. I think I’m going to keep that goal for 2011 and kick it up a notch by trying to expand my market in the West, South and Midwest

Does Samples actually take up new years resolutions?
See previous question As far as personal resolutions, I just try to make as much music as possible but I always stay away from specific goals since they are easier to fail at.

When did you start producing music at what age and what sort of medium did you use at that time and how has it evolved into what you do today?
I actually have pretty much always been a musician (my dad taught me guitar at the age of 8) but when I came to college (5 years ago in 2005) I decided that I couldn’t really ever become famous as a guitarist, so I gave away my guitar and started looking into electronic music. For the first few years I just experimented with it and looked at it as kinda a hobby, and it wasn’t til about 2 1/2 years ago that I became serious about electronic music and started developing a sound.

I started out by trying to produce music that had the energy of House music as well as the big buildups and drops, but I wanted to do it at a hip-hop tempo. I still carry that attitude today with my music, I’m just a little better at doing it. My motto with music has always been, “When the song drops, if everyone on the dancefloor doesn’t have their hands in the air then you did it wrong.”

You are one of the most prolific producers right now in the community, how long would you say it takes you to bang out a tune?
About 6 hours to carve the complete arrangement, and when I’m focused on creating a particular type of track it can even take less. When I want a track to be really big and a fan-favorite, then I’ll tend to sit on it for a day or two and come back and make edits, but I’m really good at visualizing a final product when I start (and thats how I can make music so efficiently)

Biggest influence, person you respect the most, and can call a friend in music?
Wow, good question, there have been so many people out there that have helped me in a lot of ways. I’d have to say Dylan (aka Ill Gates or the Phat Conductor) because he shares the passion I have for performance, technical knowledge, and production, and I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to work with him personally and learn a lot from him. Other great people that I call big influences are Ill-Esha, Freddy Todd, Dominic Lalli (from Big Gigantic), SPECTRE, Omega, and Kraddy.

Anyone you’d really like to play alongside in the upcoming year?
Well, I have to say there’s been a lot of people that I’ve already played with that have been pretty big names, but it would be cool to play with more international DJs, such as Joker, Rusko, etc. They tend to view music a little differently and the conversations we have back stage are usually pretty vivid.

Anything you want to say to anyone or message you want to conclude with for your final words?
To anyone thats thinking about making music, DO IT! You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t start and often I find people put too much time in the little stuff. There is a lot to be said by finishing projects and starting a new one, you never stop the learning process that way. It can intimidating from the start, but you can get good at it in a matter of months if you have the right mentors and work ethic.

And Afro Monk is the man!

Alright I’m sure many ladies want to know… Blonde, Brunette, Redhead, or specific color?
Oooh, I know I’m gonna make some ladies upset with this one, but I’ve found I have a thing for Brunettes recently, but in all honesty I fall in love with every woman I meet, so its not a matter of looks, just a matter of finding their own beauty

Much love and respect to the good friend of mine, Ben Samples. It’s always a pleasure getting to talk to him and running into him on random adventures.

Be sure to pick up Samples new album, Choose Your Own Adventure! The album has been put out by the amazing people at Made in Glitch. Be sure to support your favorite artist! Here are a few favorites of mine off it.

It has been slightly over a year since I’ve taken up DJing. I’ve fallen so madly in Love with music and decided it’s time to finally moving over to production.

I have no musical background what so ever. I’ve never played an instrument in my life nor know much about notes, keys, riffs, etc… What I do know is that I want to learn! There is nothing like the feeling when you hear a song while you have your headphones on or playing out and you just get tingles. I want to be able to create something that represents me.

I know I can throw myself into software and figure it all out but I much rather find a teacher and mentor who can guide me through the process and teach me the most basic of basic. I just found out where the drum rack is in Ableton and had no clue before. I’m a complete newb.

I’m ultimately looking for someone to help me get started and help me progress from making a simple beat to learning music theory and how to write some sexy synth lines. As much as I may be a supporter of glitch-hop and dubstep I hope to make downtempo, trip-hop, and sexy chill glitch tunes. The one album that really hits home and would be the closest thing to what I hope to achieve when I sit in the studio is Ooah’s Of Porclain. There are others but I think everyone is most familiar with that album.

I am currently located in Dallas, TX and recentely relocated here. I just got a house and extra room to build a studio. I have a Mac Book Pro, 2 powerful PCs, Mackie MR8s, APC40, M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Prosonus Firebox, 2x Vestax 2300 Pros, Numark NS7, and basic 2-channel Numark mixer. I’m going to be buying an Akai MPK 88 to learn how to play piano, I really wanted fully weighted keys to get more of a feel when playing. I heard it makes quite a difference from producers I love.

I am willing to pay to be taken under someones wing. I’m not sure how sessions would work since chances are I don’t think anyone who I chose will be in Texas unless Bil Bless finds this and is willing (in my dreams). I think Skype would be best. I just can’t wait any longer for ill gates, illmethodology. I’m looking for someone who has been producing music for quite sometime and has some experience in teaching. Looking for someone as to the likes of Steve Nelepa but affordable LOL. After all I’m looking for someone who has basic knowledge in teaching. If I know you through e-mail and already been in contact and willing to do week-end sessions I’d consider flying you in for week-end and do in person stuff and possibly set up a show while in town.

Please contact me at JM@afromonk.com if you are interested or have any recommendations on videos/sites/etc… on where to start as complete newb please let me know.

PS: If you read this Dylan, Steve, or Bil I love you and much respect to what you have sparked. Also if anyone knows them personally please let me know I’d be curious if they have any time for this.

PSS: I’m looking for someone who also has official releases and plays out live fairly regularly. You want to find someone who has found some sort of success and has wisdom to share on how they got there. Not saying someone who hasn’t released anything or doesn’t play out isn’t talented but you don’t want someone who is teaching you have no experience in this.

I was recently contacted by homie Strange Flow. He sent over a compilation called Grungestep and felt like this totally needed some love. I asked him to write up something for this post considering he helped a lot on this. Be sure to check it out. It’s completely FREE and features some big names on it such as ill Gates, Figgy, Dual, & more!

Here is what Strange Flow had to say:

It started out as a joke, coming up with funny names for sub-genres, and someone said ‘Grungestep,’ and although it seemed like some throw-away joke, something about the phrase stuck in my head, and I started to think about how alot of what was going on in the early 90s (the grunge years) is really directly comparable to whats going on now, (the dubstep era)..

as far as some of the cultural things happening right now, musically there’s this huge 80s revival thing going on, with flourescent colors and this “hey, it’s the weekend, let’s get fucked up and party! party! party!” atmosphere, and…I mean, even though it’s fun to dance and escape and just have a good time, at the same time there’s this real feeling that some of the super-happy dancefloor pop doesn’t REALLY reflect ALOT of how people are feeling in America right now… and just as grunge was, in many ways, a reaction against some of the shitty hair-metal and 80s electro-dance-pop, so too is there a real reaction boiling against the “huge-80s-throwback-party-facade-thing” going on now in music.

The whole thing with this “grungestep” compilation is not to single handedly try and change the world or bring grunge music back, it’s just one (of what will be thousands) of cracks in the dam that will, inevitably, alter music – and help start to reflect a generation that might be getting rather sick of what’s going on, if by no other way than just by changing the atmosphere for a minute, getting a breath of fresh air… and beyond that, you can’t deny that it’s fun as hell to listen to a dubstep remix of Smells like Teen Spirit, you can’t deny how fun that is! I know alot of people, myself included, feel like rock music has some explaining to do.. i mean there’s definitely some good stuff coming out here and there, but to alot of people rock really doesn’t have as much power and impact as it used to, which is why (as explained on the website for the compilation) we are trying to “take rock hostage,” and violently turn against the music narrative that Rolling Stone tries to shove down our throats..

The album draws from an incredible pool of talent in the electronic music community, with artists such as ill Gates, Figgy, Dual, Mycho, Sidereal, Archie Cooper, sAuce, KidTraxiom, and StrangeFlow, the album flies freely between dubstep and glitch hop, with songs and artists that alot of people will remember from the 90s being remixed… It has an extremely new sound to it, and yet familiar, as well.. I guarantee there has never been a compilation quite like it.. And it’s great to see people reactions to it, it’s kind of like fire, there have been a ton of plays and downloads of the album and the tracks, just in the first day – and that’s before it even hit almost any blogs at all! A lot of it spread just through word of mouth! So, I’m really excited to see where it’s going, and to be certain, this is NOT the last the world will be hearing of Soul Outsider Records, this is the beginning, and, one day soon, these fun-as-hell grungestep remixes are going to lead to something massive..

And judging by the reaction to Vol. 1, there will probably be a Vol. 2